One is tempted to ask: Is this
Albania? Albania, that is to say, back in the day, under its Communist
boss, Enver Hoxha? When making the sign of the cross in public could
land you in prison for years? No, what we're talking about is the
U.S.A., in the little town of Milton, in Florida's Panhandle County of
Santa Rosa, in the summer of 2009, where a capricious prosecution is
making life painful for some public high school educators-a principal,
an athletic director, and a clerical assistant-in a typical American
public school-Milton's Pace High School-under the baleful eye of the
ACLU. The educators' crime? Contributing through bad example to the
poisoning of the minds of the young. How? By sponsoring the recitation
of a prayer. Without further comment may I share with you here a
sobering report from Staff Writer Julia Duin of The Washington Times (the
National Edition) for August 17th.

Students, teachers and local pastors are protesting over a court case
involving a
northern Florida high school principal and an athletic
director who are facing criminal charges and up to six months in jail
over their offer of a mealtime prayer.

There have been yard signs, T-shirts and a mass student protest during
graduation ceremonies this spring on behalf of Pace High School
Principal Frank Lay and school athletic director Robert Freeman, who
will go on trial September 17 at a FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT in
Pensacola for breaching the conditions of a lawsuit settlement reached
last year with the American Civil Liberties Union.

"I have been defending religious freedom issues for 22 years, and I've
never had to defend somebody who, has been charged criminally for
praying," said Mathew Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel,
the Orlando-based legal group that is defending the two school
officials.

An ACLU official said the school district has allowed "flagrant"
violations of the First Amendment for years.

'The
defendants ALL ADMITTED WRONGDOING", said Daniel Mach, director of
its [the ACLU's] freedom of religion program [perhaps more accurately
to
be referred to as "the freedom FROM religion" program]: "For
example,
the Pace High School teachers' handbook asks teachers to embrace every
opportunity to
inculcate, by precept and example, the practice of every
Christian virtue [Shocking, simply shocking! And
just THINK
what THAT
sort of thing could lead to!]."" The fight involving the
ACLU, the
school district and several devout Christian employees began last
August when the ACLU sued Santa Rosa County Schools on behalf of two
students who had complained privately to the group's Florida affiliate,
claiming some teachers and administrators were allowing prayers at
school events such as graduations, orchestrating separate
religiously
themed graduation services, and "proselytizing" students during class
and after school.

In January,
the Santa Rosa County School District settled out of court
with the ACLU, agreeing to several things, including a provision to bar
all school employees from promoting or sponsoring prayers during
school-sponsored events; holding school events at church
venues when a secular alternative was available; or promoting their
religious beliefs or attempting to convert students in class or during
school-sponsored events.

Mr. Slaver
said the district also agreed to forbid senior class
president Mary Allen from speaking at the school's May 30 graduation
ceremony on the chance that THE YOUNG WOMAN, A KNOWN CHRISTIAN, MIGHT
SAY SOMETHING RELIGIOUS.

"SHE WAS THE
FIRST STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT IN 33 YEARS WHO WAS NOT ALLOWED TO SPEAK,"
he said.

In response,
many members of the 300-plus-member student body taped
crosses to their mortarboards and stood for an impromptu recitation of
the Lord's Prayer during the ceremony. [Young people nowadays, just
what are they coming to!]

Mr. Mach responded, "We believe students have the constitutional right
to pray voluntarily in public or private. Constitutional problems arise
only when public school officials promote or endorse PRAYER or specific
religious views."

The criminal
charges, which carry up to a $5,000 fine and a six-month
jail term, originated with a January 28 incident in which Mr. Lay, a
deacon at a local Baptist church, asked Mr. Freeman to offer
mealtime prayers at a luncheon for school employees and booster-club
members who had helped with a school field-house project. Mr.
Staver
said no students were present at the event, which was held on school
property but after school hours. He wasn't thinking he was violating an
order," he said. "Neither did the athletic director. He was asked to
pray and so he did."

Mr. Mach said the event was during the school day and that Mr. Lay, the
school's principal, has said in writing that students were present.
Decisions about the religious upbringing of children should be left in
the hands of parents, not school officials," he said. As to
whether
prayer constitutes "religious upbringing," he said, "If school
officials were promoting non-majority faiths and religious viewpoints,
I suspect there'd be an uproar."

The ACLU
brought the matter to the attention of U.S. District Court
Judge M. Case Rodgers, who issued a contempt orderfor the two men.

Meanwhile members of the small community of Milton, Florida, where Pace
High School is located, have contributed more than $10,000 toward a
legal defense fund for the defendants.

Anti-ACLU T-shirts are also being sold and the proceeds donated.

Judge
Rodgers' order also included Michelle Winkler, a clerical
assistant who was attending a school district event in February with
other school employees at a local naval base. There she asked her
husband to offer a blessing for a meal, says the ACLU, adding
that
students were present, and LED THE PLEDGE OF
ALLEGIANCE. [Good heavens!
er, I mean, Great Scot!]

"She didn't do the blessing; she asked somebody to do it," Mr. Staver
said. "The ACLU is sending people to school to monitor things happening
on campus and to see if there is anything encouraging religious
activity, then running to the court if they see anything."

Her trial,
which could result in a fine, is scheduted for August 21.

[Emphasis added]

*
*
*
* *

The following was
written by Ben
Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My
Confession:

I am a Jew,
and every single one of any ancestors was Jewish. And it
does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful
lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I
don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas
trees.

It doesn't
bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I
don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a
ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers
and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me
at
all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near
my beach house in Malibu ... If people want a creche it's just as fine
with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like
getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think
Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think
people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around,
period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is
explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I
don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I
can put it another way: Where did the idea come from that
we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as
we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But
there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities
came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of
the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is
a little different. This is not intended to be a joke, it's not funny,
it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy
Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane
Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?'
(regarding Hurricane Katrina). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound
and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by
this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out
of
our schools, to get out of our government and get out of our lives. And
being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can
we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand
He leave us alone?'

In light of
recent events ... Terrorists attack, school shootings, etc.
I think it started when Madeline Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her
body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our
schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the
Bible in school. The Bible says thou shall not kill, thou shalt
not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr.
Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they
misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we
might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed
suicide). We
said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said okay.

Now we're
asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why
they don't know right from wrong, and why it doenn't bother them to
kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if
we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it
out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW!'

Funny how
simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the
world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say,
but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes through
e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending
messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny
how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through
cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school
and workplace.

Are you
laughing yet?

Funny how
when you forward this message, you will not send it to many
on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what
they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we
can be more worried about what other people think of us
than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on
if you think it has merit.

If not, then
just discard it ... no one will know you did. But if you
discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what
bad shape the world is in.